Under Pressure
by Beautiful Decadence
Summary: Lily has a boyfriend and James has moved on but what happens when an unexpected situation throws them together?


**Hello everybody! So this is an attempt at writing after a very, very, very long time so please be gentle. This is not the most original of starts, I am aware of that, but it will get better I promise. So please stick around and let me know what you think (again, gently)! **

**Prologue**

**Lily**

I've never been one to cry in public. It's not because I think crying is bad. I think it has more to do with the fact that I like to keep up that facade of perfection. I, myself, know I'm nowhere near perfect, but no one has to know that.

So when Severus Snape called me a mudblood in front of half of the school at dinner that night for the fifth time in our Seventh Year – and yes, I had been counting- I took a deep breath, bit my tongue hard, kept a poker face and deducted 15 points from Slytherin, as a proper Head Girl should. Then, I ran to the nearest bathroom and cried my eyes out.

It's not that I'm a wimp, okay? But Severus just gets to me. I guess that it's because we used to be friends and even though he has forgotten that, I haven't. I just can't. Every time I see him the memories hit me. Hard. And I know that I was the one that ended the friendship, but that doesn't make me feel any better. It was the moral thing to do, not what I really wanted to do.

It's not like I want to be friends again with him, don't get me wrong. I would rather die. He gets worse by the day. His friends and the way he is so obviously connected to the Dark Arts repulses me. I am just nostalgic. The same thing happens with my sister Petunia. Right now, I can't stand her, but she is my sister, and we've had some pretty great times, so she will always be important to me.

That day however, something unexpected happened. While I was in one of the stalls trying to calm myself, I started hearing moans and groans. I couldn't help but snicker at the fact that there were two hormonal teenagers in the stall next door that were too preoccupied with their passion to even notice me sobbing. I bit my lip, curious about who would be in there. I debated with myself about taking a peak. It's not as if they would notice, I argued with myself. I grabbed to the stall wall and took a little peep, not interested in knowing exactly what they were doing, just in seeing their faces.

I recognised her immediately. It was no other than notorious May Flowers. With such a girlie name you'd expect the girl to have some class but no, not May. May did things her own way. She did boys her own way. Hard.

It's not like I didn't like her. I mean, I didn't even know the girl, I just knew of her. Everyone knew about May Flowers and her...Openness to boys.

At that moment precisely, her hair was completely mussed, her lips were parted, her eyes were closed and her head was facing the ceiling. Her face screamed pleasure.

The object of he desires had his head in the crook of her neck, so I couldn't really see his face. I didn't want to look down because I knew what I would find and even though I was no prude, I wasn't much into voyeurism either.

The moment I saw his face is still stuck in my brain. It seemed almost as if he lifted his head in slow motion on purpose. He didn't see me, but I most definitely saw him, Charlie Bolton. My boyfriend.

My eyes grew wide with realisation and I immediately ducked my head down. I don't know why I didn't want him to see him. Maybe because if he knew he would have to explain, and I would have to break up with him, and the whole school would know and pity me and that was the last thing I wanted. However, I think that at that moment the only thing I felt was hurt. How could he? After all that we'd been through?

Charlie and I had been dating for nearly a year then, so we were pretty serious about each other, or so I thought. I also thought that he loved me, but that was, obviously, something I had gotten wrong too. I mean it is not like I thought we were meant for each other or anything, but I had thought we were happy.

Nausea hit me and I realised that I had to leave. I ran out of there without looking back, with no idea of where I was heading. I ended up lying on the sofa in the Head Quarters, as the only one who could get there was James Potter and he was never there. I needed to think, and for that, I needed to be alone.

However, he did come in three hours later and found me in that same position.

James

I didn't care about Lily Evans anymore. I was completely over her. I had been for over a year. Just around the time when she started dating Charlie Bolton. I realised that all those times she had rejected me was because she genuinely didn't like me. Yes, I know, I know, what an obvious thing to realise, right? But that was the moment where I lost hope and moved on.

I moved on to Sophie Bruce and after that, I had lost count of all the girls I had been with. I was quite proud of my reputation as a lady's man. Don't get me wrong; I was no player. I made sure that girls were clear of my intentions, which were never serious. If after that they expected more then that was definitely not my fault. I had warned them after all.

My point is that Lily Evans was the past. Completely. But that didn't stop me from wanting to strangle Snivellus every time he had a go at her. I mean, come on, the girl had done nothing but defend him over the years. That is why after she stormed out from the Great Hall I looked at Sirius and we both pointed our wands his way. Just like that Snape was pranked and I had detention for that night. It was so worth it.

"I don't understand how the First Years can be so dirty. I mean, come on, didn't their mothers teach them how to clean up after themselves?" Sirius was scrubbing one particularly disgusting toilet while I tried my luck with the one next to his. Sirius and I being in detention was a routine by now. Remus and Peter would join us sometimes, but usually it was just us two, constant banter and lots of scrubbing.

"You're one to talk Sirius. May I remind you that I live with you? Your mother didn't teach you that, that's for sure!" I joked.

"That's different Prongs, you know that my mother never taught me anything worth knowing," he said, with a bitter smile in his face.

"Don't be such a Drama Queen Padfoot. Hasn't my mother tried to teach you and failed miserably?" I tried to lighten the mood up. Sirius wasn't having his best week. It happened from time to time.

He was normally okay with the fact that his family hated him, but he was only human and sometimes- even though he didn't say it out loud- he wondered if he'd done the right thing. After all, they were his family. But he never changed his mind. I don't know if I ever told him but I respected and admired him so much because I could see how hard his choices had been.

I understood this completely. How can you blame someone for wanting his parents to love him? I personally had no idea of what I would do without mine. I was such a spoilt little brat. And I loved it.

Thankfully, my comment earned a loud laugh from him and we went back to our useless banter.

"By the way Prongs, you know I love hexing the living hell out of Snape, and I know you are over her and everything, but don't you think that being Evans' knight in shining armour when you are not getting anything out of it is a bit pathetic?" I looked over at him and considered this for just one second.

"I am a Gryffindor, Padfoot. On top of that, I am Head Boy. I have to set the example." I paused and continued with a smirk on my face. "Even though Minnie doesn't particularly appreciate my need to be a loyal housemate."

Sirius and I spent the next hour scraping and scrubbing until the bathroom was spotless clean, as McGonagall wanted it. We started walking towards the Gryffindor common room when I realised that I had left my bag in the Head Quarters in an attempt at studying I had had that morning. Suffice to say it hadn't been very productive.

"Padfoot, I have to run back to the Head's Quarters, man." I explained to him why my sudden interest in going there considering I never used it.

"Okay Prongs, lets go." He turned around and started walking on the opposite direction. I knew he was tired and ready to hit his bed so I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him. He turned his head to face me and lifted his eyebrow questioningly.

"Don't worry about it man, you can head back to the room, I'll catch up with you." He nodded, smiled, and went his way, leaving me alone.

I took a deep breath and headed towards the Head Quarters. The corridors were deserted as curfew had come and gone. I found myself thinking about whose turn it was to patrol that night and rolled my eyes at myself smiling. Who would have said that I, the infamous James Potter, would someday care about being a responsible Head Boy? Mum would be proud.

I finally turned the corner to the Head Quarters.

"Frog's breath," I murmured to the lady in the portrait. She smiled seductively. It seemed that even the portraits knew of my reputation. I snorted.

The common room was quite dim, only lit by a candle. When my eyes got used to the lack of light, I noticed a figure sitting on the sofa, hugging her legs. I got closer and realised that it was no other than my fellow Head Girl Lily Potter. I took a closer look at her and saw that her face was full of red blotches and her eyes were watery. Had she been crying?

At that moment she looked at me with a question in her eyes and bit her lips. I shuddered because for some reason, I felt that change was coming. I shook these stupid thoughts from my head and sat next to her, hugging her to me.

She, surprisingly, got closer to me and whispered:

"Potter, I need you. Will you help me?"

Stunned, I nodded and she hugged me tighter. Maybe my thoughts weren't so stupid after all.

**Comments make me happier than a pranked Snape :)**


End file.
